Destin water tank wins national award

Wednesday

Nov 1, 2017 at 12:01 AMNov 1, 2017 at 7:10 AM

Savannah Vasquez @DestinLogSav

Destin has done it! Out of 12 finalists, the Destin Water Users water tower – located at the George French Water Reclamation Facility and visible behind Target – won Tank of the Year in a nationwide water tank competition hosted by paint business Tnemec Company Inc.

For twelve years, Tnemec has run the Tank of the Year competition culminating with the top 12 finalists being showcased in their annual calendar. Doug Hansen, director of marketing for Tnemec, said that the winning water tank is selected based on artistic value, significance of the tank to the community, and challenges encountered during the project.

“The city of Destin water tank reflects the tranquility and beauty of the coastal resort town in the Florida Panhandle,” Hansen said. “What astounded everybody was the artistic value and the beauty of the tank itself. That tank is going to look good for a long time – we are talking decades, because the most advanced coating system is on the Destin tank.”

The Destin water tank mural, painted by Eric Henn, is a beach scene depicting the emerald waters of Destin with two colorful beach chairs in the white sand and a fishing boat passing by. The mural was completed in mid-February of this year.

With almost 300 water tanks from across the nation in the running, Destin was at top five in the nation earlier this month when Tnemec called for votes for the People’s Choice Award.

“The online voting was between 9,000 and 10,000 votes,” Hansen said. “The Gaffney (S.C.) Peachoid got the largest number (of votes) just because of it’s appearance on the TV show "House of Cards," but candidly, the city of Destin, when you look at just the beauty and tranquility of that outer coating, that is why it won tank of the year.”

Hansen said that the Peachoid received 2,406 votes while the Destin water tank was right behind it with 1,029 votes. Even though Destin didn’t take People’s Choice, the honor of Tank of the Year is something to be proud of.

Destin Water Users General Manager Lockwood Wernet said he is grateful for the recognition.

“We’re excited,” he said. “We were proud to be able to do something for the community just by painting the tank, and this recognition just adds to the notion that this will be something the community will cherish throughout the coming years.”

The 2018 Tnemec calendar will feature Destin’s water tank in January. The company will distribute 10,000 calendars to offices across the country.

Other water tanks among the top 12 finalists this year, which will be featured in the calendar as well, are Gaffney, South Carolina; St. Cloud, Minnesota; Eden Prairie, Minnesota; Wasaga Beach, Ontario, Canada; Sunnyvale, California; Port Arthur, Texas; Wichita, Kansas; Coopertown, Tennessee; Auburndale, Florida; Lisle, Illinois.; and Paxton, Illinois.

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